ENGINEERING FOR RURAL DEVELOPMENT Jelgava, 28.-29.05.2009. 344 HOW BEST TO EDUCATE THE FUTURE ENGINEERS

Abstract. According to the authors, during the process of higher education the model of professional behaviour of the future specialists is formed. It means that the main task of universities is to provide the new specialists with the necessary knowledge and skills which are related to work in changing conditions. That is why more than ever engineering schools are challenged to make deep changes in their programs and structures in order to train the engineer being able to perform successfully in the future and it has been a very hard task everywhere. This article is the result of the research made by a new group of scientists of the Latvia University of Agriculture (LUA) with the goal to study and improve several organizational aspects of the study process and it gives a brief summary of the trends of engineering education and its development at the LUA